The Albany Gazette - Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot

Belgium striker Lukaku laid on Scott McTominay for his first goal in Italy's top flight after just 25 seconds, before netting from the spot seven minutes after half-time and rolling in David Neres as Napoli extended their league lead to four points.

Closest rivals Juventus can pull back to within a point of Napoli with a home win over Cagliari on Sunday.

Lukaku has settled in immediately in Naples under Antonio Conte, scoring three times in five league appearances in which he has also made four assists for a team which looks ready to challenge for the league title.

"We're getting there. It's going to take time because I got here late. It's all thanks to my teammates, the coaching staff and fans that we're doing so well," said Lukaku to Sky.

Napoli didn't have it all their own way at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as they were pushed hard by promoted Como.

Cesc Fabregas' team were deservedly level at the break thanks to a stunning long-range strike from Gabriel Strefezza, which came shortly after Nico Paz thumped a shot off the woodwork.

And the match was firmly in the balance until Neres rolled home his second Napoli goal in the 86th minute after being brilliantly slipped through by Lukaku.

Lukaku looks lighter on his feet than he has at any point since winning Serie A with Inter Milan in 2021 and he also supplied a neat pass from which Scotland's McTominay lashed in his second Napoli goal after also netting against Palermo in the Italian Cup last month.

McTominay has been excellent since signing for Napoli from Manchester United in the summer, adding a new dimension to the midfield for southern Italy's biggest club.

"It was great to get off to a good start. It was a great ball. Obviously for me it's nice to get a goal and then we lost a little bit of control in the first half and then we tweaked a through things at half-time and it made a difference," said McTominay to Sky.

Napoli are unbeaten since being humiliated at Verona -- who host Venezia in Friday's late match -- on the opening day of the season.

And under Conte Napoli look much more like the team which swept to their third Scudetto in 2023 than the disastrous outfit which last season failed to even qualify for European football as reigning champions.

"We just want to take it game by game. We want to play football and hopefully win as many games as we can," added McTominay.

"The boys have been great with helping me bed in. Game by game, no-one's looking any further past the next game."

Como, backed by Indonesian tobacco giants Djarum, sit 10th on eight points after an encouraging start to their first Serie A season in 21 years.

(Y.Harris--TAG)